Efficacy of supplementation of probiotics on maternal glycaemic control – A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Aim: To evaluate the evidence pertaining to the efficacy of the supplementation of probiotics on the blood glucose level of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Background: Women with the GDM are subsequently at risk to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus, within three to six years after delivery. This makes it crucial for all pregnant women with the GDM, to monitor their blood glucose levels regularly to minimize the adverse pregnancy outcomes. The earlier studies revealed that the probiotics could improve glycaemic control and mitigate the adverse effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: The Google Scholar, Pubmed/Medline, Cochrane library, ProQuest, Ovid, and EMBASE were systematically searched for the available clinical trials. Review methods: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for evaluating the effects of the probiotics on the pregnancy outcomes such as glycaemic control as primary outcome were included to achieve the aim of this review and meta-analysis. Two reviewers from the team extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias in the eligible studies independently. The meta-analysis was performed by applying a model of fixed effects using the Revman 5.3 software. Results: Nine clinical trials involving 1053 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Though the components of probiotics varied significantly, Lactobacillus species was given to all the participants in all the trials included in this review. The results showed that the probiotics asignificantly improved the glycaemic control biomarkers (Fasting blood glucose and insulin sensitivity level) (P